Re: Urgent - How to Adjust Iriver IFP899 Recording Levels - Terrible Overall Setup Experience
- From: "Darrell Shandrow" <nu7i@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blindcasting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 09:32:25 -0700
Hi Mika,
Shane Jackson also did some good podcasts covering the iRiver. Check him out
at http://jack728.livejournal.com.
Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
A+, CSSA, Network+!
Visit http://www.petitiononline.com/captcha and sign the Google Word
Verification Accessibility Petition today!
Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by another
person.
Blind Access Journal blog and podcast: http://www.blindaccessjournal.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Mika Pyyhkala
To: blindcasting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 7:48 PM
Subject: RE: Urgent - How to Adjust Iriver IFP899 Recording Levels - Terrible
Overall Setup Experience
Hi Darrell,
Yes, that podcast is good. It gives you a sense of the types of options that
are in the menus.
It sounds like the recording level option is in the control menu, and that
Larry at least at the time had his volume set on 60 at the time of that
recording.
It also sounds like there is a distinction between line in and external mic
in the control menu settings.
But once you set this in the control menu, you still have to select some type
of recording mode using the record/mode button, and I believe the arrows to
change from internal mic, to external/line in, to tuner, etc.
By the way right now my files are being recorded with names like:
audio001.mp3
Does anyone know if that is using line in, instead of external mic?
I don't know that this BCT podcast gives you enough information to go in and
set the menus. Like for each option, you would need to know how many clicks
down the given options were. Like I believe control menu is 4 clicks down, and
then there are so many clicks for each suboption, and then with in each
suboption
(for instance, control menu, recording level)
you would need to know whether to press up/down or left/right arrow to make
the adjustment, and then what state you were in after you pressed in on the
joystick to say ok.
Also do these menus rap?
The sighted gentlemen in the podcast also got stuck in the menus from time to
time and had to start from the beginning.
I'm just wondering too if we have anyone on list who has figured out how to
zip through these menus and set these options without a sighted person?
Thanks..
Mika
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: blindcasting-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blindcasting-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darrell Shandrow
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 9:07 PM
To: blindcasting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Urgent - How to Adjust Iriver IFP899 Recording Levels - Terrible
Overall Setup Experience
Hi Mika,
Visit http://www.blindcooltech.com and check out the 8/9/05 podcast where
Larry goes over the iRiver's menus with a sighted person. Hope it helps some.
Darrell Shandrow - Shandrow Communications!
Technology consultant/instructor, network/systems administrator!
A+, CSSA, Network+!
Visit http://www.petitiononline.com/captcha and sign the Google Word
Verification Accessibility Petition today!
Information should be accessible to us without need of translation by another
person.
Blind Access Journal blog and podcast: http://www.blindaccessjournal.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Mika Pyyhkala
To: blindcasting@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 6:51 PM
Subject: Urgent - How to Adjust Iriver IFP899 Recording Levels - Terrible
Overall Setup Experience
Hi,
I recently got an Iriver IFP899, and I cannot figure out how to set the
recording level and the monitoring level, are these two different things?
Also I have had a terrible experience as a blind person getting the unit
configured. I was able to record mono voice files using the built in mic
myself just by reading and listening to some podcasts and talking to 1-2 other
Iriver users.
However, I was not able to:
*Set the device to Line In/External Microphone mode;
*Tell it I wanted to record in stereo, and set sampling rate, etc.;
and
*Set the recording levels.
I also tried to get three different sighted people to help me with it:
Experience 1, Roommate: Could not figure out how to set the device to
record in line in mode. Even after you set this in the control menu, there are
additional modes that you must select which were not obvfious;
Experience 2, Radio Shack: I took the device to a local Radio Shack where I
have bought some electronic equipment. They looked at it, and also were not
able to set it to line in recording mode. Again, they made adjustments in the
control menu, but there is some other place in the interface where you must
switch it from internal mic to line in external mic mode;
Experience 3, Roomates Girlfriend: Finally I got the manual out, and I
worked on it with my roomates girlfriend. After a frustrating series of steps,
we were able to get it to switch to line in mode, though we don't know really
how we did it. She followed the instruction manual, and read the screen, and
still it took several tries and the process was not clear. I asked her "what
the trick was," and she didn't know.
Still we are unable to set the recording levels, and it is recording very
softly for both a bi noral mics, as well as a power microphone. My roomates
girlfriend was unable to see anything in the screen talking about recording
levels.
Given that 3 sighted people of average or greater intelligence could not
figure out how to make a simple change on the device (changing it from internal
mic to external source/mic recording) I would suggest that the user interface
leaves a lot to be desired.
I was surprised that so many blindcasters like the Iriver given this. It
seems like maybe you could get it to work, but you would have to sit down with
an intelligent sighted person perhaps for 2-3 hours, and map out all the menus
and memorize how many key presses are needed for the functions you need to do.
I suppose the device is somewhat accessible if after you configure it you
don't need to make any changes.
But if you buy one of these (now you must get it on Ebay because the IFP899
is discontinued) you may need to spend a good deal of time with a sighted
person getting it set up. And the later models are even less accessible? And
you will probably need to find a person who is good with gadgets and reading
manuals that are unclear.
If I am missing something please let me know. I suppose there is a good
market for someone to make a top to bottom tutorial for the blind on the Iriver.
Have other people who are blind had a similar problem getting this device
configured, or am I missing something and in fact there is some straightforward
way for me to adjust all of these settings.
Thanks...
I'll now go and read the manual some more, or have a drink :).
-Mika
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